Norfolk State sees the future in its students with rebranding effort – Virginian-Pilot

Norfolk State’s current logo, featuring “NSU” and a Spartans helmet, will be phased out by the end of the year.

Fontaine said NSU President and CEO Eddie N. Moore Jr. asked her in 2015 to begin measuring the community’s perceptions of the university. Norfolk State began working with a marketing and branding firm. It asked more than 300 people — students, alumni, faculty, community and business leaders — their opinions about the school.

Featuring the school’s communications tower is intended to convey an academic sensibility, and including the school’s full name also was important. The branding work indicated “NSU” alone didn’t immediately indicate where exactly the university is located outside Hampton Roads and Virginia.

A new brand and logo will greet Norfolk State University students upon their return to campus this fall.

The new brand and logo will be unveiled Tuesday at a state of the university address. The ceremonial event precedes the start of the academic year Aug. 21.

Students liked the “future” tagline the best. “We wanted the tagline or theme line to sort of represent a partnership #8230; a collaboration. If I see the future in you, you’ve got a responsibility in this,” Fontaine said.

Receiving feedback from all the university’s constituencies was an important aspect of the process, as was the research aspect.